A/N: I'm very sorry about the wait, I had the entire chapter typed when my laptop crashed and I ended up losing half the chapter. But it's all done now, and I also I've also changed the auto save to run every few minutes instead of every hour.

Thanks so much to Karolina from my Yahoo group for getting the Japanese translations for me, I really really appreciate it! As you can tell, my group members are awesome, so everyone give her a big round of applause!

Thanks :) Lovefremione.

Flight; Chapter Five:

By the time Draco's 16th birthday had rolled around at the beginning of June, the family of four had hopped their way through most of Germany, and skipped the border into Poland; their first stop being Wroclaw, and they once again settled in the middle of the muggle sector.

This time as they made their way out of the bank picking up the usual bundle of newspapers from home, a goblin approached them with a small box. He had told them that it was from the Flame, who they assumed to be Bill. The box had been checked for spells prior to heading out into the city, and the four were anxious to see what it was that Bill had chanced to send to them.

Sirius cautiously unwrapped the plain brown butcher paper and smiled in delight upon seeing a brightly wrapped birthday present for Draco. "Hey blondie, it's for you."

Draco smiled broadly. He had of course hoped that he would be able to see his parents, but knew better. That they had gone to the trouble of getting something to him despite the circumstances warmed his heart. Dumbledore had already sent teams from the Order to locate their group. He wanted Harry back, and they wouldn't put it past the old coot to try and infiltrate Gringotts.

"Well open it already," Harry sighed impatiently.

Draco smirked at his cousin and slowly pulled the paper off the small box. Everyone watched excitedly as the blond opened the box and smiled softly. Nestled in the satin lining was a Malfoy family ring. It was tradition in the old families like the Malfoy's, Black's, and Potter's, to gift family jewelry to their children when they came into their magical inheritance. Draco pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto his right ring finger grinning when it resized to fit him and when he felt the protection magics wash over him. "It's not the same as having them here, but I feel closer to them now."

Harry and Sirius sat on either side of the blond and pulled him into a hug. "We're family Dray, and your mum and dad would have been here if they could."

Draco leaned into Harry's shoulder, "I know."

Remus watched from his chair as the three cousins had their moment. He stood up and pulled a large box from the bag of groceries they had purchased before getting to the house. "I believe it's time for cake, then Draco can open the rest of his presents."

"There's more?" Draco asked surprised.

Harry reached up and smacked the back of Draco's head, "Of course there's more! You didn't think that we were just going to let your birthday pass did you?"

"Well no; but I still wasn't expecting anything. It really hasn't been that long since we called a truce let alone became a family."

"Are you trying to get out of getting me something for my birthday next month?" Harry said pretending to wipe a tear from his face.

Remus and Sirius laughed at the boy's antics as they wandered into the kitchen to set up the candles and gather plates and silverware.

"Umm… no?" Draco turned wide silver eyes on Harry.

Harry grinned, "You better not!"

Before Draco could respond, a loud, rather off key rendition of the birthday song drifted from the kitchen steadily growing louder as the marauders made their way from the other room and Harry joined in. Remus set the cake down on the low coffee table as they finished singing and Draco leaned forward to blow out the candles.

"Did you make a wish?" Remus asked.

Draco sighed and smiled sadly, "I did."

Harry reached out to grip Draco's hand, squeezing it gently. "I say we eat the cake, drink some butterbeers, Draco opens his presents, then we settle down with a movie. It's been a long day already."

The others agreed, and Remus distributed slices of yummy chocolate cake that made Harry and Remus groan in delight upon the first bite. When the cake was practically demolished, Sirius got up and retrieved a small bag, pointing his wand at it to resize it, and pulled out several brightly wrapped presents.

Draco blinked in surprise, and shocked them all with giant hugs, before opening his presents. From Harry he got a practice snitch and a book of handmade coupons, some for seeker matches, and others for lessons on some of Harry's more daring tricks. This made Draco laugh delightedly. Sirius gave him a Black family pendant, telling him that all the Black's got one upon their majority to remind them that they came from the Black family, and could always call upon their kin when in need; or just to say hi. He also got a leather jacket much like Sirius' own. Remus gave the blond a wand holster that strapped to his forearm. It was beautifully sewn dragon hide and spelled to remain invisible to everyone but him; it was also spelled so that his wand could never be summoned from him, he would always be they only one able to retrieve his wand, and the wand should always return to the holster should it be dropped in battle.

Draco once again gave every hugs and sat back down surreptitiously wiping tears from his eyes. Harry and the others pretended not to notice as the cleaned up the wrapping paper and the plates and left over cake. "Hey Dray, the box of movies is in the corner, go pick one out."

Draco nodded and headed for the box, searching through it before finding his favorite movie.

"What we watching kid?" Sirius flopped down on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table.

"The Borrowers."

"Again?" Sirius pouted.

"It's his birthday dad; let him be as narcissistic as he wants."

"Hey," Draco pouted, "I can't help it if that Tom Felton guy looks just like me when I was little and is absolutely adorable." Draco sniffed and put his nose in the air, "Besides, I happen to like the movie, and you guys always out vote me."

"For good reason," Sirius muttered under his breath earning a smack to his head from Remus. "Hey!"

Harry rolled his eyes at his family's antics and moved to set the movie up. He was soon snuggled into his papa's lap on a large plushy chair, and Draco was tucked into Sirius' side as the movie played and the night closed in around them. The boys were out well before the movie was over, and the two older men gently tucked them into bed.

Despite the warded area they had been in for Draco's magical inheritance, there is little that will stop the power fluctuations when a powerful wizard reached maturity. With Draco they had had a couple of hours before they had had to leave the area. His fluctuations of power and been enough to rock the surrounding cities, luckily on the grand scale it had still taken time for the locator spells to pinpoint them. Harry's inheritance though, that was going to be something to see. Not only was he coming into a creature inheritance, but the amount of power that he was going to come into would be staggering. They would have even less time than with Draco to move after the power surge, and they would have to be even more careful until Harry was able to control the extra magic.

~oOo~

Four more hops found the Black's (they decided to drop Lupin for now, as it isn't common where they would be going) at the Fushimi Inari shrine in Fushimi, near Kyoto. Lily's personal diaries made mention of the monks there that knew most of the lore and were able to help her. Sirius checked out the area through Bill, who found that the area was steeped in ancient magic. They should be able to hide there for a good two weeks, and stay for Harry's birthday before leaving again.

After approaching the shrine and placing their gifts before the guardian statutes, a monk stepped from the shadows and bowed welcoming them, "Konnichiwa, kokitsune. Potter san o matte imashita. Shitagatte kudasai, watashitachi ga shitte iru takusan no koto wa Potter san to hanashinakereba narimasen. (Welcome little fox, we have been waiting for you. Please follow, we have much you need to know)."

"Thank Merlin for translation charms," Draco muttered following the aged monk getting a low laugh from Sirius.

Harry spent the week and a half prior to his birthday holed up with the monks learning about the fox spirits. He also learned that his mother after discovering her heritage and traveling here herself had been told that one day her son would visit them, but she would be gone from this plane by then; the reason why she wrote the letter to Harry.

The day before Harry's birthday, the young soon to be kitsune was called into the main Hall a little before dinner. There he met with his family, and the monks who had undertaken his teaching. "What's going on?" he asked them curiously.

Ikuma stepped forward with a bow. "Kouun o inorimasu, kokitsune. Kougoushii kitsune no seishin wa anata ni hikitateru hazu desu. (Tomorrow is your 16th birthday little fox, and with it comes your departure. It has been our pleasure to meet, and to teach you)."

Harry returned the bow then stepped forward to hug the tiny man. "It has been my pleasure Ikuma-Sama." Harry hugged the three other elders expressing his thanks. "So…"

Sirius grinned and pointed to a table against the wall holding a few brightly wrapped packages and a large cake covered in happily lit candles. "Happy Birthday kit."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Kit?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "I made the mistake of telling him that baby foxes are called kits."

"Ok," Harry shrugged. "It's cute… I guess."

"Yeah yeah whatever," Draco gestured impatiently to the table, "blow the candles out already so we can eat the cake!"

Harry laughed delightedly and pulled the blonde into a quick hug. He ran to the table and after flashing a huge grin to the assembled, turned and blew out the candles.

They monks took their leave after cake, hugging the young kitsune, "{Much luck little fox, may the celestial fox spirit smile upon you}."

Harry's family watched him happily dance around the table poking at the boxes after saying hugging his friend's goodbye for the last time.

"Well," Remus said amusedly, "open them up."

They pulled up cushions and took a seat to watch the happy teenager open his gifts. From Remus, he got a wand holster similar to the one the man had gifted Draco, and an old photo album with tons of pictures from the marauder days. Draco gave him an advanced potions kit and coupons for potions lessons. Harry rolled his eyes and turned a bright smile on the blonde. "I'm not sure what to say to that, but thanks Dray."

Draco sniggered returning the smile.

Sirius pulled the last box off the table and handed it to his son with a flourish. "Here you go kit."

"Thank you," Harry took the box and set it in his lap reverently. He slowly ripped the paper off and opened the lid. Nestled inside was a ring similar to the one that Draco wore, but instead of one crest, it had a combination of three, the Potter, Lupin, and Black crests. "Wow," he breathed. He looked up catching Sirius' eye, "this is beautiful dad." Harry slid the ring on his right hand and watched the ring resize to fit his small finger. He felt the warm wash of protective magics rush through him; it was almost like receiving a hug from his father's, feeling completely safe in their arms, knowing that they wouldn't let anything happen to him and that they loved him.

Harry smiled and once again hugged everyone, hanging on the longest to his dads. "Is it going to hurt?" he asked referring to his inheritance that was fast approaching with midnight.

"We'll put you out the same way we did when we adopted you so that you'll go through the physical and magical changes asleep. You'll probably still feel uncomfortable, but it should help. According to what we know about coming into magical and creature inheritances, you should go through your magical growth first, the final fluctuation will then trigger the creature inheritance. That's when we start our series of apparition jumps. Siri, Draco, and I have spent the last week and a half planning the jumps through Japan that should confuse the locator spells long enough for you to finish the change; our last jump will be to the Gringotts branch in Tsu, and from there we will resume the portkey jumps for two more weeks before settling into our permanent home." Remus paused momentarily catching his breath. "We think you'll have your magic under control by then, if not we'll continue to jump until you do."

"So it'll be fast, and I'll be out of it forcing you to run with dead weight."

"It'll be fine Kit, Draco and Remy have packed everything and we'll take care of shrinking them and dispersing them between the two. Remus can boost off of Draco's magic enough to handle apparating them and our belongings. I'll handle apparating you." Sirius pulled Harry into a hug. "Just think, in a few weeks we'll finally be able to settle down and live normally; well as normally as four wizards can especially when one is a kitsune." He grinned.

Harry just nodded with a worried expression on his face.

"Look Harry," Draco said making sure he had Harry's attention. "We've made sure that each point that we will apparate to is in a naturally warded area heavy in ancient magic, just like here. That will give us time to catch our breaths and get ready for the next jump. It will also serve to make sure that the Order, while remaining on our trail, will remain three steps behind, thus ensuring that when we finally make it to the portkey, it will be with minimal risk. It'll also irritate the hell out of Dumbledore."

"My only concern is that they'll figure out we are deliberately leading them on, and therefore separate and head for the various Gringotts branches."

"We are counting on that fact actually. They will split up heading for the most likely Gringotts locations, probably leaving just one small group to actually follow us."

"And that's a plan with minimal risk?" Harry interrupted, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, because we've picked a Gringotts that is not a vaults branch like we have been using. This Gringotts is strictly a curse breaker branch. So far Dumbledore is unaware that we have help from inside the bank. Since anyone can obtain a Gringotts portkey for the right price, and Goblins have never formed an alliance with any wizard in regards to war, it will never occur to him that the Goblins have been actively helping us." Sirius smiled soothingly. "One of Albus' problems is that he is absolutely certain that his 'people' will not turn on him."

"And you and Remus?"

"I'm from a dark family and spent twelve years in Azkaban, and Remy is considered a dark creature. He has never fully trusted us. The Weasley's on the other hand, have always been a light family, and he had ties with Molly's brothers in the first year. He would never suspect Bill of helping us."

Harry nodded. He was still worried, but he had to admit that they had a good plan; well as good a plan as they could put together while trying to outrun a bunch of wizards while he was unconscious. Harry also had to admit that they had the headmaster pinned pretty accurately. The man was so convinced of his superiority, that it would never occur to him that his own people would turn against him; Remus, Sirius, and himself excluded. They weren't his people, they were his means to an end; sacrifices for the greater good.

"Hey Kit-"

"Are you going to call me kit now, for the rest of my life?" Harry snorted in laughter.

"Yes I believe I will." Sirius pulled Harry into his lap and gave him a tight hug. "Anyway… its time; we have about a half hour to midnight."

Harry took a deep breath and got to his feet. "Well, I suppose I should take one last look in the mirror yeah? I'll have fox ears and a tail when I wake up."

Draco giggled, "I never thought Potter would be one to preen in front of a mirror."

"Hey," Harry objected, "I've only had this great head of hair for less than three months; forgive me for wanting to remember it in case it turns into fur or something."

"I don't think that will happen, but…" Sirius trailed off. "Come on Kit," he led them out and into Harry's room, "lie down and take the potion. We'll see you tomorrow morning Kit."

Sirius, Remus, and even Draco all gave Harry a big hug and stayed to watch as he fell asleep.

"You and Draco go double check and make sure that we haven't forgotten anything, and take care of shrinking things and packing them in your belts. I want to make sure that we can leave as soon as his magic settles."

Remus nodded and dipped down to brush his lips over his mates before turning and leaving with Draco. They finished and were settled in chairs by Harry's bedside just as the clock struck midnight, and the teen's magic exploded.

The magic pouring off of Harry pulsed through the room. The three men watched worriedly has Harry's body levitated off the bed and began to glow, veins of pure magic flowing over his body and slowly sinking in, marking new pathways.

"What's happening?" Draco asked.

"His magical core is expanding into his nervous system. See how it's flowing down his legs and arms, and into his hands pooling at the finger tips?" At Draco's nod Remus continued. "That means that he'll most likely not need his wand any longer. He's now directly connected to his core; meaning that his core when it began to expand to compensate for the influx of magic, it didn't have enough room, so it made more by expanding in tendrils, following his nervous system throughout his body."

"Wow." Draco and Sirius breathed.

Remus chuckled. "Look, the light is beginning to fade, and… our hour is nearly up. Draco come here," Remus held out his arms for the blond. "As soon as his body hits the bed, Sirius will grab him, and we'll begin apparating for the next hour."

Draco moved into Remus' embrace and held onto the werewolf tightly, watching Sirius hover over Harry's bed. Just as Harry's body hit the bed, Sirius snatched him up, cradling him in his arms, and they apparated.

At their first stop they waited, watching the surrounding area intently Sirius checking his unconscious son nestled in his arms; just as their ten minutes passed and they readied themselves to apparate again, they heard four loud pops indicating that their trail had found. Sirius laughed out loud and stuck his tongue out at the people following them, and the family apparated again.

Hestia Jones shook her head, "Do the spell!"

Fifty minutes, and five jumps later, left them at their last port of call in Japan. The information from Bill had been accurate, and the Goblins had been waiting for them with their portkey. The men stumbled into the bank exhaustedly grabbing a hold of the portkey, and with little ceremony were whisked away, landing in Christchurch New Zealand. Once again, the goblins lead them to accommodations for the remainder of the night. The small family fell into bed wearily, sleep coming immediately.

~oOo~

Harry was the first one to wake that morning, and had to struggle to get out of Sirius' arms. He finally managed to wiggle free and hurried to first door he saw hoping it was the bathroom. Thankfully it was, and he rushed in heading for the loo. A few minutes and one relieved sigh later, Harry pulled up his boxers, shaking his head when they caught on his tail, "Oh yeah." He shook his head again and moved to the sink to wash his hands and glanced into the mirror. "Son of an effing bitch!"

Sirius, Remus, and Draco rolled out of their beds wands drawn at the loud shout. Sirius followed the screamed explicative's to the bathroom and found his fuming son staring at the mirror, hands clenched in outrage. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean what's wrong," Harry shouted. "Look at me!"

Sirius blinked. "Kit, you knew that you were going to wake up with a cute little tail and ears."

Harry stomped his foot, "Of course I knew that."

"I don't understand," Remus said from the doorway, Draco standing right behind him. "Then what's the problem?"

"I shrunk," Harry screeched. "I was finally at an almost decent height, and I effing shrunk two inches!"